HERO with jet li

[nalogg]

Hey!

I just remembered to post about hero.
I'd seen bits and pieces of it in chinese a while ago, but i just went to see the N.American subtitled release.

MAN that's a great movie. I liked it better than crouching tiger personally.
It's a movie based on the warring provinces and the original unification of China.
Even if you're not a fan of KRAAAZY h.k. fight scenes, and wire-stunts the movie's story will STILL be worth $12.50 (or whatever exorbitant price your theater is charging)

It was enough to make me a little bit misty-eyed, and it coaxed a tear or two from my girlfriend.

If you do see it, keep your eyes peeled for the INSANE arrow scenes.

[Budokan]

YOur theater charges 12.50?? thats outragious. Its only about 6.50 7.00 dollars here, i want to see this movie badly. cant wait!

[Anime12478]

I saw this movie a few weeks ago. This movie is an artistic masterpiece. There were a lot of symbolic references throughout the movie. I also thought that it was kind of neat that the dialogue was kept to a bare minimum compared to 99.9% of the other movies I have seen (except Fantasia, you gotta love that one!) While it was great in presentation, I felt that it was a little dull. It might have been because I was tired though since I saw it at around 11:30 or so. It was a nice breath of fresh air to all of the sexual and violent movies that seem to be coming out now.

[nalogg]

YOur theater charges 12.50?? thats outragious. Its only about 6.50 7.00 dollars here, i want to see this movie badly. cant wait!Canadian exchange.... 77 cents CAD = 1 american dollar

[not-I]

umm...<cough> <cough>...

just a couple threads down...

http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3829

[nalogg]

umm...<cough> <cough>...

just a couple threads down...

http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3829
yeahhhh but that was like 2 months ago
and i rarely decide to search before i make new posts anymore because the search engine is wonky.
I never find anything i'm looking for....

oh well i won't be offended if nobody replies to this thread, i was basically saying that people should go check it out

[litige]

Canadian exchange.... 77 cents CAD = 1 american dollar
watch out, it will be .85 in 2005, so keep your cash for kendo buying. it will make things sooo less pricey.

[mune]

Yeah hero was pretty sweet, some of the fights were lacking though. Like the leaves...they barely touch weapons (yeah yeah masive energy swirling the leaves or somthing...i dont care) and the one over the water...looked nice but again they were apart for most of the "fight"

The rest was cool though. Excepting the fact that 90% of the people I talk to about it think that quinton tarintino wrote and directed it....morons!! What he did was bring it to north america and make shure scenes werent cut. I watced it about 2 years ago when my friend broght it back from china and im pretty shure the subs are quite similar.

[Kendo-Sensei]

Hero is the best movie ever made.

[MabahoMan]

I know this movie was all beatifull and symbolic and meaningful and stuff, but it was a bit of a yawner. A few of the fight scenes were cool, but the story was lacking tremendously. I feel like it was trying real hard to be deep & meaningfull.

As far as the HK movies go I'd much rather see a crazy John Woo shoot-em-up.

[shotoblogger]

I know this movie was all beatifull and symbolic and meaningful and stuff, but it was a bit of a yawner. A few of the fight scenes were cool, but the story was lacking tremendously.
Damn right about that. It was totally oversold. The cinematography is great, but the plot and writing are boring (and I like slow movies). In fact, I didn't even like the fight scenes. I thought they were poorly shot and unimaginatively coreographed. Plus, the thing nobody is talking about is the fact that it is blatantly Chinese-nationalist in outlook and propaganda. Doesn't this bother anybody?

[not-I]

Plus, the thing nobody is talking about is the fact that it is blatantly Chinese-nationalist in outlook and propaganda. Doesn't this bother anybody?
Yes, it does. Again, everything here was already covered and discussed in a previous thread:

http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3829

[Future Head]

Wasn't anyone else at least a bit put off by the political message of the film?

[Ayame]

Hi, I saw Hero about a year ago and it's a really good movie, however it tends to get a little boring sometimes, Yesterday I saw another chinese production called house of flying daggers, watching the trailer you actually might think of it as an hero-rippoff, however that is not the case, It's a really cool film and I enjoyed it from the beginning to the very end, here's link to the trailer:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony/houseofflyingdaggers.html

[Hisham]

Hero is more of a historical political movie than an action packed one ,so if you watch it expecting to see something like jet li s New legend of shaolin then you ll be disapointed .The best jet li action movie so far IMO is Fist of legend.

[ukenagashi]

it was a bit wierd how jet li told the king (or who ever he was) who he fought and how he did it, then the king said 'No you didn't, you did it like this' then jet li said 'oh yeah, thats right' and then the story got really confusing because that broken sword guy got stabbed a couple a hundred times, then jet li decides not to kill the king and then the king gets his army to blast several million arrows at him for what ever reason which i cant remeber and for only 1000 arrows to hit him and make a person shaped gap were the arrows didnt hit the door and then the king went and made the great wall, some sequal that was, the only person that was the same was zang ziyi, who prbably wasnt the same person on the film

[Paburo]

ukenagashi, i think you're not familiar with the term SPOILER?

if you didn't understand the story, you could look up some explanation on google or a movie forum. but telling the whole plot here, where fellow kenshi who haven't seen the movie might be reading is kind of rude, imo...

[Wifenmummy]

oohhh.. sounds like an alright movie... movies here cost $14 to get in.. i think could be higher..

[ukenagashi]

paburo wrote think you're not familiar with the term SPOILER?

if you didn't understand the story, you could look up some explanation on google or a movie forum. but telling the whole plot here, where fellow kenshi who haven't seen the movie might be reading is kind of rude, imo... er sorry, didnt meant to spoil anyones enjoyment, there is more than that. i'll be quiet now

[SuperTen]

Thought it was on a par with Crouching Moggy Hidden Trouser Snake, PANTS!!!!!

Sorry to all the folks who enjoyed the film, maybe I've got know imagination, but guys flying about just doesn't do it for me, unless it Keanu in the Matrix :)

[rainmaker]

It is very common for old HongKong martial art movie filled with flying warrior. If you watch other Hong Kong movie, you will understand that it takes about 200 bullets to kill main character(copied from Scarface), martial art character flies all the time. However, I still just cannot imagine Keanue fly in any movie, even Matrix..


Thought it was on a par with Crouching Moggy Hidden Trouser Snake, PANTS!!!!!

Sorry to all the folks who enjoyed the film, maybe I've got know imagination, but guys flying about just doesn't do it for me, unless it Keanu in the Matrix :)

[cBEx]

watch out, it will be .85 in 2005, so keep your cash for kendo buying. it will make things sooo less pricey.Litige, I think your wish will be granted faster than you think we are now around 0.82USD$! The portfolio managers working for my company think that soon the looney will be at 0.90 USD by mid- 2005!

[cBEx]

Here is 3 of my favorite chinese movies:

The Taichi Master
Iron Monkey
Drunken Monkey

Hero is a beautiful movie, but when it comes to action sequences, boring! And OMG, way to much bloody wire work! I am sure that the above mentionned movies are much more interesting when it comes to martial- arts. As for the plot and the story of these movies, like in most HK/ chinese movies, it is rather simple: you kill or snatch some close to my heart, I train real hard and then take revenge.

Have fun watching!:smiley:

[GlideWalker]

Hmm.



With respect to many of the comments here and in the other similar thread: I see a strong relationship between the visuals, sparse and formalised dialogue and the ultimate point the film attempts to make - that governments make decisions whose immediate consequences are horrific and morally inexcusable in the hope that good may come of it over the long run.



The rest of us (as personified by Broken Sword et al) skate around on the surface with relatively straightforward and lightweight goals, though they may seem like great heroic acts. Finally the assassin character exits the palace surrounded by an army kept at bay by his moral superiority - he has crossed the gap between the everyday world and the unfathomable dark place of the lone ruler.



His very existence is almost a metaphysical impossibility. The soldiers are merely the instrument of his passing. Similarly, the other characters associated with the paradox are slain, leaving the ruler alone once more as the only individual who understands the real reasons for his actions, and the only person capable of carrying them out.



The violence carried out by our governments is the biggest moral ask in the history of humanity. All the more so when the governments concerned are 'democratic' and the violence is carried out in our names.



In this respect many of the technical observations made about the fighting, historical background, who the intended audience is supposed to be etc. are somewhat superfluous.



Hero is a worthy attempt on the subject matter - if not necessarily the best ever, then certainly one of the most original. The photography is absolutely stunning. If you have seen it with language dubbing try to see it with subtitles - I don't understand a word of Mandarin but I am sure many scenes could not have been so moving with dubbed language.



PS – I have skimmed the two threads I found on this subject over lunch but have not read in detail. My apologies if others have made some of these points already.

[nalogg]

I don't understand a word of Mandarin but I am sure many scenes could not have been so moving with dubbed language.

mandarin is a really nice-sounding language

Me and one of my chinese friends always joke that stuff in mandarin always sounds like pleasantries, but cantonese always sounds sarcastic and angry...so he'll say a littany of curses in mandarin and they sound so nice, and then he says a bunch of nice things in cantonese and they sound mean HAHAHA

WORD

[xorandor]

mandarin is a really nice-sounding language

Me and one of my chinese friends always joke that stuff in mandarin always sounds like pleasantries, but cantonese always sounds sarcastic and angry...so he'll say a littany of curses in mandarin and they sound so nice, and then he says a bunch of nice things in cantonese and they sound mean HAHAHA

WORD

Hehe, then you really should hear Thai. The language itself is really melodic, and the people are generally also very very nice, so I think you'll be really hard-pressed to find yourself offended by any Thai person due to their speech.

Heh, and this is coming from a Mandarin speaker. :)

In other news, I thought that the movie was crap. I had a really really good laugh in theatres though, because there's alot of subtle humour that can only be really appreciated by Mandarin speakers as it is easily lost in translation. The other artsy-fartsy people in the theatres that treat the movie too seriously didn't take too kindly to the laughing though. :)

As the others have pointed, Zhang Yimou has tried too hard with this movie, I much preferred his previous works. The fight scenes were extremely bad IMO, too much obvious wire work, like Crouching Tiger. I think these two movies were really made for the Western audience in mind, rather than the domestic market.

My 2 cents anyway on this old thread.

[nalogg]

As the others have pointed, Zhang Yimou has tried too hard with this movie, I much preferred his previous works. The fight scenes were extremely bad IMO, too much obvious wire work, like Crouching Tiger. I think these two movies were really made for the Western audience in mind, rather than the domestic market.

My 2 cents anyway on this old thread.
well that's movies for ya, sometimes it's really just subject to opinion.
There's lots of movies my friends think i'd like, and then when it turns out I don't they say, "really? i thought you would like it.."

when i watch that wire fighting stuff i know it's wire, and it's silly and unrealstic, but somehow i appreciate it for that :)

[T.Lee]

i always think ppl are yelling at each other when i hear mandarin.

wo bushi zhongguoren!!!!

[Vortex]

Bouth that bad boy when it came out on DVD here in the states. Love it now as much as when I saw it the theater. Sure the wire work and walking on water parts are hard to swallow if your a physics major. But, its a story and stories can be as outlandish as the writer makes it. A female friend and I saw it and she wasnt to hip to the physics part and I couldnt convince her it was just a story ( based on history ) and are there for artistic value. Maybe thats why we would never work out as a couple, I enjoy the beauty of it and shes giving me the therory of relativity or something...

[nalogg]

I enjoy the beauty of it and shes giving me the therory of relativity or something...
HAHAHA

"I really enjoyed the colours of the scenes used to represent-"
"BUT THE SQUARE OF THE LENGTH OF THE HYPOTENUSE-"
"SHUT UP ALREADY!"

[kuwaiti-kendoka]

Well i saw this movie, and it was like totally cool, but the good thing about it i saw it like for free.

You know i bought a dvd un-offical version of the movie for 1 K.D and it was like awosume, and you had to pay like 12,50 for it. sheeeh